Original Title: Making the U.S. the crypto capital: What it would take
Source: a16z
Translation: Tom, MarsBit
The U.S. seems to be shifting its confrontational stance on blockchain and cryptocurrency to a more supportive one, providing clear guidance and rules to help builders follow these regulations. Although this shift is still in its early stages, the government has already taken some encouraging steps toward this goal. New leadership, new rules, new working groups—all these measures provide the crypto industry with what it desperately needs: a practical path forward.
Despite facing lawsuits, turf wars between regulators, angry letters from lawmakers, de-banking incidents, and regulatory oversight through enforcement in recent years, the past few weeks have shown a more optimistic, tech-friendly attitude. From the White House to regulatory agencies, we have seen the appointment of commissioners for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, as well as executive orders supporting blockchain development. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has established a new cryptocurrency working group and repealed the previously hindering "Staff Accounting Bulletin 121" rule. In both houses of Congress, key legislators have also expressed a willingness to clarify the rules for the industry through legislation.
To facilitate dialogue between government officials and blockchain experts, we gathered insights from 11 industry experts on topics ranging from taxation and staking freedom to broader issues such as encouraging decentralization and reforming the U.S. regulatory framework. These perspectives provide policymakers with important considerations to help them better think through cryptocurrency regulation, ensuring that the U.S. leads at this critical moment of transformation toward the next generation of the internet.
1. Why Decentralization is So Important and Why We Need Incentives
——Miles Jennings
Decentralization is crucial. It drives new governance structures, organizational forms, and robust economic systems—meaning more choices, more voices, and more competition. However, in practice, achieving decentralization has been difficult, as it often lacks advantages compared to centralized systems in terms of efficiency and stability until large-scale coordination technologies emerge (or are made available to everyone)—until now.
Over the past decade, as technology has continued to evolve, we have reached a stage where decentralization can truly operate and be applied to many areas of digital life. But now we face a new challenge: how to incentivize decentralization. Despite many obstacles, many builders have successfully achieved decentralization on a large scale. To attract more builders to participate, we simply need a clearer path forward and a fair competitive environment.
"Like gravity, centralization is a force that is hard to resist. In contrast, decentralization—shifting control and power to distributed groups—is inefficient. It requires tremendous energy, effort, and engineering to overcome the natural order."
Miles Jennings is the General Counsel of a16z crypto, providing advice on decentralization, DAOs, governance, NFTs, and state and federal securities laws for the firm and its portfolio companies. Previously, he was a partner at Latham & Watkins and co-led the firm's global blockchain and cryptocurrency working group.
2. The SEC Embraces the (Digital) Age
——Scott Walker and Bill Hinman
The SEC can make six immediate adjustments to establish applicable regulatory rules—without sacrificing innovation or key investor protections.
"Through these adjustments, the SEC can restore its mission and reposition itself as a forward-looking regulatory agency, ensuring that the U.S. market remains competitive while also protecting the public interest."
Scott Walker is the Chief Compliance Officer at Andreessen Horowitz. Previously, he served as a senior expert in digital assets and blockchain technology in the SEC's Division of Enforcement and was a Vice President and Legal Counsel at BlackRock, focusing on derivatives, prime brokerage, and securities financing transactions.
Bill Hinman is currently a consulting partner at a16z crypto and a senior advisor at the global law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. From 2017 to 2020, Bill served as the Director of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance.
3. Let Staking Flourish in the U.S.
——Ji Kim and Alison Mangiero
Staking—allowing users to participate in maintaining and securing specific blockchain networks—has revolutionary potential. Here are five steps the SEC can take to ensure the staking industry flourishes.
"The U.S. should lead innovation, focusing on how to make these 'financial' infrastructures more efficient, secure, and accessible."
Ji Kim is the President and Interim CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation. Previously, he served as the Chief Legal and Policy Officer for the group and has 15 years of experience as a legal advisor and policy executor in technology companies.
Alison Mangiero is the Executive Director of the Proof Of Stake Alliance, a project under the Crypto Council for Innovation, dedicated to advocating for clear and forward-looking public policies that promote innovation in the staking industry. Previously, she founded the Tocqueville Group, an entity that created open-source software and other public goods for the blockchain network Tezos.
4. Ending the Era of Mass Financial Surveillance
——Grant Rabenn
The Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 created a vast financial records database—the FinCEN database—putting our sensitive personal data at risk. Blockchain technology offers a better path forward.
"The Bank Secrecy Act has spawned a massive regulatory-industrial complex that requires U.S. financial institutions to conduct daily monitoring of their customers."
Grant Rabenn is the Head of International Legal Compliance for Coinbase (Asia-Pacific and Americas). Before joining Coinbase, Grant served as a federal prosecutor for ten years, specializing in money laundering and cybercrime cases, and led early government investigations involving cryptocurrency.
5. Anyone Can Be De-Banked. DeFi is a Key Safety Net
——Katherine Minarik
What happens when you lose control of your primary bank account—without any explanation or recourse? Self-custody of crypto assets can provide a lifeline when traditional finance fails.
"That bank has indefinitely frozen all our accounts. Our bank staff cannot tell us any more information. They can't even inform us whether, how, or when we can get our money back… this is extremely frightening."
Katherine Minarik is the Chief Legal Officer at Uniswap Labs. Previously, she served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Coinbase, overseeing global litigation matters.
6. It’s Time to Bring Assets On-Chain
——Jenny Cieplak
"Tokenization" is a method of digitally recording assets, typically on a blockchain—this practice has the potential to greatly modernize financial infrastructure. If the SEC stops arbitrarily prohibiting these assets from going on-chain, traditional financial institutions can benefit.
"Theoretically, this should open the door to using the latest and most advanced technologies—including blockchain and distributed ledger technology."
Jenny Cieplak is a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP, specializing in advising fintech and financial services clients on the development and deployment of new technologies. Her practice integrates industry regulation, cutting-edge technology, and the intersection of financial services.
7. Why the DOJ's Actions Against DeFi are a Disaster
——Miller Whitehouse-Levine and Amanda Tuminelli
All other policy and legal issues must start from one core question: Who is in control? Some lawsuits against DeFi protocols are based on incorrect assumptions about the identity of controllers and the extent of their control, causing unnecessary harm to blockchain development.
"Blaming car manufacturers for the improper driving behavior of their vehicle users is clearly nonsensical, and the same logic applies to imposing liability on drivers for the vehicles they operate."
Miller Whitehouse-Levine is the CEO of the DeFi Education Fund. Previously, he led policy operations at the Blockchain Association and worked on various public policy issues involving cryptocurrency at Goldstein Policy Solutions.
Amanda Tuminelli is the Chief Legal Officer of the DeFi Education Fund, leading impact litigation and policy work. Previously, she worked as an attorney at Kobre & Kim, defending clients in criminal and regulatory investigations, government enforcement actions, and large-scale litigation, particularly in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space.
8. Why We Need Decentralized Stablecoins
——Luca Prosperi
Decentralized stablecoins have become a pillar of DeFi, but they rely on traditional financial intermediaries. Decentralized stablecoins can serve as a reliable, efficient, and trustless system, reducing dependence on custodial financial intermediaries.
"This so-called world of decentralized stablecoins not only has the potential to fundamentally change the way we create money, but it could also revolutionize the entire financial intermediary system."
Luca Prosperi is the co-founder and CEO of M^0, a project dedicated to building decentralized stablecoin infrastructure. Previously, he was responsible for lending regulation at the DeFi project MakerDAO and published research at Dirt Roads.
9. Rethinking SEC Rulemaking: Why Cryptocurrency Needs Its Own Rules
——Scott Walker
It is not always reasonable to apply rules designed for traditional securities markets to cryptocurrencies, yet the SEC seems to do just that. Now, the SEC has the opportunity to adopt a tailored rulemaking approach that will help blockchain technology thrive while protecting investors and consumers.
"The SEC is often criticized for its 'enforcement-based regulation' in cryptocurrency-related matters, but fewer people focus on its 'rule expansion-based rulemaking'—directly applying rules designed for other markets or products to emerging technology sectors—which is equally counterproductive."
Scott Walker is the Chief Compliance Officer at Andreessen Horowitz. Previously, he served as a senior expert in digital assets and blockchain technology in the SEC's Division of Enforcement and was a Vice President and Legal Counsel at BlackRock, focusing on derivatives, prime brokerage, and securities financing transactions.
10. How the U.S. Can Benefit from Effective Cryptocurrency Tax Policy
——David Kerr
Given the complexity of tax laws and the innovative organizational structures required by decentralized systems, policymakers face significant challenges in effectively establishing digital asset reporting requirements and tax treatment rules. However, this legislative session presents a historic opportunity for the U.S. to reclaim leadership, as cryptocurrency is reshaping the global financial system and influencing the future of the internet.
"Will the U.S. be the one to write the rules for the 21st-century internet, or will it only watch from the sidelines as others reap the rewards?"
David Kerr is the head of Cowrie LLC, with 10 years of experience in tax strategy, financial accounting, and risk consulting, providing risk mitigation strategies for clients in industries such as gaming, telecommunications, and technology-driven online sales platforms, focusing on Web3 issues.
11. Should the U.S. Implement a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve?
——Christian Catalini
The recently proposed Bitcoin strategic reserve is a good starting point—but it is just that, a start. There is also an opportunity: to use Bitcoin to connect the conflicting parts of the global financial system while maintaining U.S. dominance.
"But the real opportunity lies not in merely holding Bitcoin; it is in how to integrate it into the global financial system in a way that strengthens America's economic leadership rather than undermines it."
Christian Catalini is the co-founder of Lightspark and the founder of the MIT Digital Currency Initiative.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
